People came together on the beach, a place Melissa Wood loved, sharing stories, leaving flowers and writing messages to her in a journal as the sun set.<\/p>\n
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A week after a deadly shooting outside a Walgreens near TPC Sawgrass, friends and family gathered Friday evening on the sand at Mickler\u2019s Landing to remember Melissa Wood, a mother of two who had recently become a grandmother.<\/p>\n
Several people came together on the beach, a place Wood loved, sharing stories, leaving flowers and writing messages to her in a journal as the sun set and waves rolled in.<\/p>\n
Her daughter, Sienna Valdez, fought back tears as she talked about the woman she called her best friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was my best friend, and it\u2019s funny, she would know exactly what to do to make me feel better right now,\u201d Valdez said.<\/p>\n
Wood was one of two people shot and killed March 13 in what deputies have described as a double homicide in the parking lot of the Walgreens on A1A near TPC Sawgrass.<\/p>\n
Investigators say her ex-boyfriend, Christian Barrios, is accused of shooting Wood and a man she was with before fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n
At the vigil, people walked the shoreline hunting for shark teeth, a small tradition that reminded Valdez of time spent on the beach with her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made me happy, but they\u2019ll never find ones as big as hers,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cI taught her how to do it, and she always found way bigger ones than me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family members described Wood as outgoing, generous and compassionate, the kind of person who welcomed people in and made them feel like family. Valdez shared a memory of her mother visiting her about a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe flew out to see me, and we spent an hour or two driving around trying to chase the bottom of a rainbow,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can never find the bottom of a rainbow, but I know she would want us to chase all the rainbows that life has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loved ones said Wood never judged anyone and often stepped in to help others, even when it was difficult. Valdez said her mother once helped someone at the same beach escape a domestic violence situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom actually helped someone here get out of a domestic violence situation that she felt like she couldn\u2019t,\u201d Valdez said. \u201cSo my mom saved her, and it\u2019s kind of ironic that that\u2019s how she went, but she was a fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez said she has wrestled with what justice should look like in her mother\u2019s case and initially wanted the harshest punishment possible for the man accused of killing her. But standing on the sand where her mother once walked, she said her feelings have shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if there can be justice,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted him to have death row, and obviously I\u2019m upset and hurt, but it wouldn\u2019t be fair to his family and the people that love him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez said she is trying to follow the example of grace she believes her mother would have shown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did the most unimaginable thing anyone could have done,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my mom would not want us to be angry with him. I know, at the end of the day, she would want us to forgive him, whether he deserves it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood\u2019s family said she had just become a grandmother last year. As they work through funeral arrangements, they said they are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and hope to honor her by continuing the kindness she showed others.<\/p>\n